A Lesson Learned
by Appyknabby
Summary: A new character is found on the island. Can she be trusted, but most importantly can she trust them? Takes place from Season 1 AroundOutlaws and will continue untill present Season23
1. Hide and Seek

**PART 1**

"Viiiinceeeeent!" Walt screamed into the dense Jungle. "Here boy! Viiiiinc.." A rustle in the bushes startled him. Walt slowly crept towards the sound, suddenly wishing his father was here. "Vincent?" he almost whispered. The bushes rustled some more. His could hear his heart thudding inside his chest. Suddenly there was a squealing sound and a baby boar ran out of the bushes frightening him. He laughed a little, relieved, then stiffened at the snorting sound of a very angry mother boar. Walt turned and ran for his life, not really knowing where he was going he just ran. After a couple minutes he sat down, underneath the shade of a tree, breathing heavily. "I think I lost 'em." he muttered under his breath, glancing back just to make sure. Feeling hungry, he fished through his backpack he was carrying, and took a small piece of food and chewed it gratefully. "Ok here goes nothing!" Walt heard someone say, he slowly turned around and peered above the bushes. Walt's fatigue dissipated as he watched a small, blonde-haired boy, tumble across the hard, jungle floor. He performed a round-off, flic-flac, back-tuck, and finished perfectly. Walt stayed low fearing he was one of the dreaded others. He peered through the bushes, watching the boy perform a front-handspring-front-tuck.

"Do others do flips?" He asked himself. He leaned into the bush trying to ignore the branches scraping at his face.

As soon as he did, Walt sneezed.

The boy was startled at the sound and sprinted off into the jungle.

"No wait! Don't go." Walt started after him, but out of fear he ran away, glancing back at the spot, where the boy was tumbling.

He returned to camp. Later he was sitting by the fire, and Kate walked up to him. "So what's up?" she asked. "I guess you didn't find Vincent". She sat down beside him. Walt shook his head. He glanced at Kate, wondering if he could tell her.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Walt asked.

Kate turned around to face him.

"Uh, sure you could consider me trustworthy",

"You will never believe what I saw in the jungle!" He exclaimed, his eyes bright with excitement. "I saw a boy doing flips!"

Kate stared at him disbelievingly. "Well, you're right, I will never believe what you saw."

Michael walked up and sat down, his face fallen.

"Sorry Walt, I couldn't find Vincent either." He explained.

Kate jumped into the conversation. "Walt said he saw a boy doing flips in the Jungle"

Walt stared at Kate.

"Uh, I'm going to uh, see where Jack is. See ya later." Kate hurriedly walked off, as Walt made a face at her

"You saw a boy in the Jungle?" Micheal stared unbelievingly at Walt, who nodded his head slowly. He hadn't exactly wanted the news to get to his dad.

"No, No, there is nobody out there Walt!"

Walt stood up. "It is true!",

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Michael asked, putting his hand on Walt's forehead, Walt pushed it away and stood up.

"I'm fine, just forget I even said anything" Walt stomped towards the tent.

"Where you going?" Michael called after him.

"BED!"

Michael stared at the fire confused.

"Hey dude! We found your dog!" Hurley yelled from across the beach.

Micheal looked up just in time to see Walt shoot out of the tent and run up towards Hurley shouting.

"Where is he? Who found him?" Hurley looked a little shocked.

"Uh, I guess you could say Jack found him, and he's at the caves…" Walt shot off again before Micheal could protest.

"Thanks Hurley!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Hurley watched Walt take off.

"Uh, your… welcome?".

Micheal got up and started running after him.

"Hey Walt! Come back! I don't like you out there alone!".

Walt dashed off towards the caves and collided into Megan in the dark,

"Hey!" She yelled angrily at him, "Watch it!"

"Oops. Sorry," He walked around her. "Where are you going?"

"No time to explain! Bye."

Walt ran through the Jungle, breaking branches, and leaping over fallen logs. Gasping for air, he sat down on a mossy log.

"Are you ok?" a concerned voice, with a slight English accent, came from nowhere. Walt jumped, still catching his breath.

"Whe.. where are you? Who are you?" he looked wildly around him.

"Nevermind that, are you ok?" the voice continued. Walt got up and stumbled in circles. "Yea, I'm fine, see um, we were in a plane crash…"

the voice interrupted. "A plane crash?"

Walt continued "Yea, flight 815". Almost as soon as he said that a figure dropped out of nowhere, it startled Walt. The figure in a blue t-shirt and jeans offered a hand.

"Thanks, so you were on the plane too?", the figure unveiled itself, as a short, blonde-haired girl, with braces and a load of freckles. Walt studied the figure. "Hey! You're the kid who was doin' flips! But your not a…"

the girl stared at him. "a boy?" she finished.

Walt nodded slowly.

"That's ok, I've been mistaken as a boy before, I got short hair because than I don't have to worry about it when I'm doing…uh…gymnastics.

"Yea I noticed," he said pointing to her shirt, that said Bismark Gymnastics Acadamy.

"What are you doing all the way out here? You should come back to camp."

The girl's eyes widened a little, shaking her head. "I…can't, I… have to stay here.",

"Hey! Wait up!" Micheal's voice cut through the Jungle, frightening the girl, who started backing away.

"I gotta go" she whispered. Walt looked at her surprised. "Why?"

The girl stared at him for a second, then started sprinting away. Walt grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "Wait, At least tell me your name!" The girl glanced at the direction of Micheals voice, then answered.

"Nikki, but you can't tell anybody I'm here, NOBODY!" she warned.

Walt let her go, and she sprinted off into the distance, just as Micheal caught up to him.

"You know, I don't really like you rushing off into the Jungle, you don't know what's out there." Micheal said gasping for breath. Walt started walking towards the caves. "Walt? Are you listening?"

Walt turned around,"Yea Dad, I'm listening, I just really want to see Vincent.", Micheal caught up with him, and put an arm around him.

"Ok, well, lets go."

Walt and Vincent lay near the warm fire. Walt, half asleep, reached down to pet Vincent's warm coat. Jack walked up behind them, and sat down. Vincent put his head on Jack's lap, and Jack gently stroked it. Walt slowly opened his eyes, and yawned. "I think he likes you."

Jack looked over to Walt. "I hope I didn't wake you."

Walt shook his head and sat up. "I heard that you were the one who found him."

Jack chuckled, "Well, not really, I just saw him nearby while I was getting a drink of water. I guess I get the credit for seeing him first."

Walt smiled. Jack continued. "Hey, I heard about the boy you saw in the jungle,"

Walt stared into the fire, remembering the girl's voice.

"The one that was doing flips… Walt?" Jack gently shook his shoulder.

"Oh yea, it wasn't… I mean my dad was right, I think I was hallucinating." Jack stared at him. Walt quickly spoke up. "Who told you?" Jack glanced back at the fire.

"Oh, Kate told me."

Walt groaned, a small burst of anger set over him. "I better get to bed, see ya in the morning." Walt called Vincent, and walked over to their tent, leaving Jack at the fire, as it appeared, but he had something else on his mind.


	2. Befriended

**PART 2**

Nikki twisted and turned, "Ugh, this branch is not comfortable." She mumbled to herself, hitting the tree with her fist. "Where is that other one!" She glanced around into the darkness. Resting her head back on the tree, she looked up. "Aha! There it is!" remembering she stuck her backpack on the branch that she usually slept on. Carefully, she stood up on her branch. Glancing down, she noticed something moving in the bushes. She reached down into her pocket, bringing back a smooth stone. She always kept them handy after almost getting attacked by wild pigs. Then she thought she heard her name. "Nikki?" the whispers barely reached her ears.

"Come on Nikki, get a hold of yourself" she thought.

Squinting in the darkness, she saw someone stepped out of the bushes.

"Nikki? Are you here?" she heard it say.

Her mind racing, the only person that knew her name was the boy she met. Sticking the stone back in her pocket, she started climbing down to a lower branch. Meanwhile, Walt is at the point of giving up. "Who knows where she is…" his shoulders drooped as he started to head back. A whoosh and a thump startled him. A smile broke on his face as he turned around to see Nikki standing there. "Looking for me?".

Walt smiled sheepishly, and pulled something wrapped in cloth out of his pocket.

"I… thought you might be hungry."

Nikki stared at the food, hunger taking over her. Walt handed the food over to her. She slowly took the food, and sat on the ground. Quickly unwrapping it she stared at the cut pieces of fish. Walt sat down across from her. "It's kinda burnt, but I hoped you wouldn't mind."

Nikki shook her head but continued to stare at the food.

Walt looked from the food to Nikki. "You can eat it you know."

Nikki laughed a bit, and ate a piece.

"Sorry, all I've been eating for the past couple weeks are berries and nuts." Nikki continued to eat, "Once I found a mango on the ground, but I couldn't figure out where it came from."

Walt glanced up the tree that she fell out of.

"Do you like, live in that tree?"

Nikki nodded,

"Except when I'm doing gymnastics, of course."

Walt chuckled,

"Why do you want to live out here alone?" Nikki put down the food that she was about to eat. "Well… that's a long story." She said and suddenly felt uncomfortable.

(FLASHBACK)

9-year-old Nikki (With semi-long hair) is standing with a 14-year-old Beth, and a 10-year-old Sarah waiting for Sarah's Parents. A boy gave Nikki a little push, but Beth caught her, she turned around to face the boy.

"Ooh, it looks like your 'Parents' forgot about you!"

Nikki smiled,

"That's nice, and where are your parents this hour?" she said keeping cool. The smile slowly disappeared from the boy's face as he tried to figure out what to say. Nikki smiled to herself, and waited for an answer.

"At least mine aren't in jail!" He snickered.

Anger built up inside her until she couldn't control it and she gave the boy a punch in the stomach, just as his mother pulled up.

"Maybe you need to keep to your own business." She yelled back.

"Nikki, stop, let's just walk home." Beth said grabbing her arm.

"Yea, We can get some ice cream or something" Sarah added. Nikki, still had her eyebrows low, bent down to pick up her books.

"Tommy! Oh my poor little baby!" the mother crooned over her son, turning to Nikki, "You rat! Go home, you have no business starting fights." Turning her attention back to her son,

"He needs to pick on someone his own size" Sarah muttered to Nikki.

The mother continued.

"I told you to keep away from them, anybody who has cons for parents have got to be absolutely…out of their mind!" She started helping Tommy up glaring at Nikki, Beth, and Sarah, who were walking away.

(END FLASHBACK)

Nikki stared at her food, "You should really get back, people will start to be looking for you, and it's pretty dark, shouldn't you be in bed?" Nikki said suddenly. Walt looked at the sky,

"Yea I guess… are you always in this tree?"

Nikki nodded,

"Sometimes I jump from tree to tree, you know, exploring, or finding food." Nikki started to hand back the leftover fish, Walt pushed it back.

"No, you can keep it, we have lots of fish back at camp."

Walt got up and started heading back. Nikki suddenly called out.

"Wait! I… Uh, I don't know your name."

He turned around,

"It's Walt" Nikki looked at the fish,

"Well.. thanks 'Walt' for the fish".

Walt smiled, "No problem".

Nikki turned around, and started climbing up the tree. Walt watched her for a couple seconds, then turned and left.

Micheal and Charlie were sitting at the campfire, watching the flames flicker. A rustle in the bushes, near Walt and Micheal's tent, startled them.

"Who's There?" Charlie cried out.

The rustling stopped. Micheal instantly thought about Walt. He ran over to the tent and peered inside. There lay a sleeping Walt. Micheal let out a sigh of relief. Vincint trotted into the tent and lay near Walt. Micheal returned to the fire.

"Did you find out what it was?" Charlie asked, poking the fire.

Micheal shrugged,

"I checked on Walt, It was probably Vincent because he came into the tent afterwards."

Charlie relaxed a little. "I hope your right…" he replied nervously, Glancing over into the Jungle.


	3. He's a Doctor

**PART 3**

Walt watched as the water in his bottle slowly filled up, tapping his fingers anxiously. When it reached the top, he screwed the cap on it and stuck it in a small back with another bottle in it, along with Vincent's tennis ball and a coconut shell. He had found it the other day and decided it would make a good water bowl for Vincent. He zipped up the bag, and slung it around his shoulder. Scanning around for his dog.

"That's funny, he was right beside me." He muttered quietly to himself.

Sawyer brushed past him, Walt called out to him.

"Hey Sawyer!"

Sawyer slowly turned around, obviously annoyed.

"What!" He almost screamed.

Locke and Claire, who were sitting nearby, turned their heads.

"Look's like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Locke remarked, looking back at a piece of wood he was whittling. Sawyer glared at him.

"You seen my dog? Vincent?" Walt continued with his question.

Sawyer turned around and started to walk away,

"No, I haven't seen your dog."

Suddenly, a load of dirt hit Walt from the back.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. He turned around to see Vincent furiously digging in the ground, continuously throwing more dirt at Walt. Dodging the dirt, he grabbed Vincent, who turned and started licking him in the face.

"Vincent stop it!" He said gently hitting and pushing him away.

When he stopped, he put the leash on him, and started running towards the Jungle. Going around the corner, he ran smack into Jack.

"Whoa! Where are you going in such a hurry?" He bent down to Walt's level, and picked up his bag for him, which unzipped and it's contents spilled out.

"I'm going… uh to find some fruit to uh… to feed Vincent." Walt started putting the water bottles back in bag.

"You need 3 water bottles?" Jack asked helping him.

"Well… yea, one bottle is for Vincent and the other 2 are for me." He replied digging through his back trying to find the coconut. Jack handed it to him.

"Thanks" Walt replied, they both stood up, and Vincent started tugging on the leash.

"Well, I better get going, uh… I think Vincent's pretty hungry. Bye!" He headed off into the Jungle towards the beach.

"Wait, Walt! I don't think it's a good idea to go alone!" Jack called after him, but he had already disappeared.  
"Hey Locke!" He called out. "If anybody needs me I'll, either be at the beach, or around the fruit tree's." After that Jack sprinted off after Walt.

"Go get it Vincent!" Walt semi-shouted, and threw the ball. Vincent rushed after it like a mad man. Nikki laughed.

"Did you ever have a dog?" Walt asked trying to retrieve the ball from Vincent's mouth.

Nikki's smile slowly faded away.

"Yea, I have or I guess had, one. Her name was Rosabella."

Walt looked at her as sadness filled her face.

"Did something happen to her?" He asked bending down to pet Vincent.

Nikki slowly nodded "Yea, my parents made me give her away…." She trailed off, looking away in the distance. "But I still got to see her every once in a while, in fact, when I left home she was the healthiest 13 year old Dalmatian you'll ever see!" She smiled a little.

Walt handed her the ball, "Do you want to throw it?" He asked, not sure if she wanted to bring back painful memories.

Nikki quickly nodded, and took the ball.

"Back at home, I'm famous for being able to trick any dog into believing I threw the ball." She laughed, fingering the ball.

Walt smiled, "I'd like to see you do that, Vincent is really smart."

"I can! Watch." Nikki replied.

She faked the ball one way and with the same hand, she threw it around her back the other way. Vincent fell for it and ran around in circles trying to figure out where it went.

Walt stood there astonished. "How'd you do that!" he cried.

Nikki smiled, "I'll show you, let me go get the ball." She replied headed the way the ball went.

Meanwhile Jack had been trying to follow Walt's trail. "Walt!" He yelled into the Jungle. "Where are you?" _Twap_ Something whizzed through the air and hit him in the shoulder. "Ah!" He jumped back startled. Glancing down, a tennis ball was rolling on the ground. Something rustled in the bushes and Nikki burst out. She abruptly halted and stared at Jack. A wave of fear took over her.

She spun around and ran as fast as she could.

"Stop!" Jack called and started running after her.

Nikki ran past Walt like the speed of lightning.

"Hey stop!" Jack said as he ran past him.

Walt deeply confused grabbed Vincent's leash and ran after Jack.

Tears filled Nikki's eyes as she ran, blurring her vision. She tripped over a rock, which threw her over a log, and as she sailed over the log, she smacked her leg against it. Crying out in pain, she fell to the ground. She lay there, still crying, not knowing what to do, she couldn't move her leg. Within a minute Jack was by her. She tried to drag her self away. But Jack grabbed her injured leg. She screamed in pain. Then Walt came on the scene, confused, dragging Vincent behind him.

"Hey, calm down." Jack said trying to keep her still. "Stop!"

Nikki froze in fear.

"Listen to me, I'm a doctor, ok?" Jack stared at her for a minute waiting for her reaction, then examined her leg. "Who are you? What is your name?"

Nikki still just lay on the ground, watching him.

Jack turned around to Walt, "Who is she!",

"uh...she..." Walt stammered.

As Jack turned his back to her, she scrambled to get up and keep running, but Jack grabbed her.

"Her name is Nikki and she was on the plane." Walt finally finished.

Jack held her firmly, while she balanced on one foot. "Please let me go." she breathed

"We're going back to camp, NOW." Jack proclaimed, and motioned for Walt to follow him.

"Let me go! You may be going back to camp, but I'm not!" Nikki started squirming, making it hard for Jack keep his grasp.

"Your leg is broken, you're coming back." Jack informed her as he picked her up.

Jack, carrying Nikki, and Walt stepped out of the Jungle. Nikki still furious, and a little scared, avoided everybody's stares and whispers. She estimated about 25 – 30 people. There was only one other kid besides Walt, a bald guy, a really fat guy, and some others.

"Jack!" Kate called over to him. "What is going on?"

"Not sure yet." Jack explained shortly as they walked into the medical tent.

"My leg is not broken." Nikki muttered.

"She was on the plane too." Walt informed them.

"Walt!" a voice was heard outside, and Walt immediatly left the tent.

Jack got out some supplies to treat her cuts. Nikki watched Jack intensely, with her jaw set, and didn't say a word.

"Can you move your ankle?" Jack said after examining her leg.

Nikki remained silent.

Jack quickly pushed her toes down slightly, she drew in a deep breath as pain shot through her leg.

"Right, you probably broke your ankle." He watched Nikki fight tears, "I think she might of broken her leg in two places." Jack said examining a swollen spot on her shin.

Kate made a face and handed him a bandage to wrap around her leg.


	4. Trust Issues

**PART 4**

Nikki sat on a rock, surrounded by Jack and a middle eastern man were standing in front of her, Kate was sitting next to her.

The man knelt in front of her, and stared her square in the eye. She shifted uncomfortably. "I'm going to ask you again. Who are you, what is your name."

Nikki lifted her head up, but didn't say anything.

The man stood up and walked over to Jack. "Ok, you talk to her, I'm through." He whispered.

"Just tell her your name, maybe she'll tell you hers." Jack whispered back.

Sayid grew more angry by the minute. "I have tried to talk to her for the last half an hour, and she has not said a single word. If you think she's one of them, maybe you should talk to her."

Nikki kept her head low as the two kept arguing.

"I guess they're really bad whisperer's." Kate said softly from beside her.

Nikki smiled a little bit. "Is that who they think I am?"

Kate turned her head in surprise.

"One of them?" She said silently, picking at the sand.

Kate, was caught speechless for a moment. "Why won't you tell them your name, or why you were in the Jungle instead of here?"

Nikki shrugged, "Because my story is stupid, they wouldn't believe me."

Kate sat in front of her. "You know Jack isn't bad. Neither is Sayid, they just want to help you..."

"Well maybe I don't need any help!" Nikki interrupted, angrily. She looked up to see Jack and Sayid stop arguing and stare at her.

Her expression changed from anger to fear. "Can I go?" she asked them, rubbing her arm shamefully.

Jack walked up to her, "Not until you tell us your name, where you're from, and why you were in the Jungle."

Nikki stared at him. "I'm not one of 'them', whoever they may be."

"Then why won't you tell us your name?" Sayid tried to step towards her, but Jack stopped him.

Nikki watched them both nervously, "Nikki." She quietly responded.

Jack nodded silently, then signaled her to go.

Sayid came up to him. "Why'd you let her go?"

"Because all we need is her name to find her on the manifest." He replied and walked away.

"Hey, don't go far, I suppose you know about the 'thing' in the jungle." Kate called after her.

Nikki looked back and nodded, then using the tree's for support she made her way to a quiet spot.

Nikki shivered in the heavy rain, she hadn't left her spot since the day before. The chinese guy offered her some weird food, and Jack came and checked on her leg, but neither of them said anything. Other than that people simply ignored her. She glanced over to see Vincent come and snuggle next to her.  
"Hey there Vincent.", she gently stroked the dogs wet fur. "You know Walt's probably looking for you."   
Walt came up behind her with a leash, "Thanks I am." He reached down to snap the leash. "Uh... My dad... said I can't talk to you." He said quietly.  
"I guess I kinda understand." She replied quietly. "You should go before you dad see's you."  
"He still thinks your one of 'them'." He said still lingering around.  
"Do you think I'm one of 'them'?" She asked  
Walt shook his head, "Uh uh. I think your one of us. You're too nice."  
Nikki smiled at the comment. She was about to ask the long awaited question that sat in her mind; who 'they' were, but she saw Walt's dad on the horizon.  
"Walt!" He barked, "What did I tell you?"   
Walt turned around "Dad! I just came here to get Vincent!"  
The man turned from Walt to Nikki, who backed up against the tree. "Stay away from my son." he said quietly as a lightning bolt struck through the sky.  
Nikki watched them go confused and torn inside, the weather didn't help.  
"Don't cry." She told thought to herself, "It's not worth it."  
Nikki saw a figure walking quickly, she didn't pay much attention.  
"Hey, you shouldn't be sitting out here in the rain." A soft female voice cut the silence.  
Nikki jerked her head up, not expecting a visitor. "Umm, that's ok, I'm fine." she said glancing at Kate, who just barely wet.  
"No, I mean it, you might get sick or something." Kate said worriedly and stretched out her hand.  
Nikki subconciously took it.

Kate and Nikki quickly crawled underneath a tarp away from the rain.  
"Here." Kate said and threw her something to dry off with.  
Nikki smiled slightly, "Thanks."  
The two sat in silence for a couple minutes, listening to the rain softly pound on the tarp.  
"Who..." Nikki started, and bit her lip. She glanced at Kate who silently encouraged her on. "are 'them'?"  
Nikki listened intensely while Kate explained the whole story and their run-in with Ethan.  
"I...I'm sorry..." Nikki said quietly, "The only thing that came to my mind was that you guys split up because you were insanely mad at each other or something."  
Kate laughed at that. "You really thought that?"  
Nikki laughed to herself and nodded, then becoming serious she asked, "Do you think I'm one of them?"  
She could see Kate tense up at the question and mentally slapped herself. "Of course she does!" she thought.  
Kate opened her mouth to say something but Nikki interrupted. "Nevermind, I don't really care if you think I am or not. It stopped raining, I'm going to go back now."  
Nikki crawled out of the tent and started hopping away when Kate called after her. "Are you?"  
Nikki shook her head. She wondered if Kate believed her or not.  
Kate walked up to her, "Than I don't think you are one of them." Kate smiled at her, and Nikki smiled back.  
"Besides, how does someone who's been living on the island forever get braces." Kate teased her.  
Nikki laughed back.  
"Kate!" Jack's demanding voice called out behind her.  
Jack was angry, and scared. Nikki noticed he had a gun in his right hand. Jack pulled Kate back with his left and held on to her arm.  
"Jack what..."  
"She lied." he said using his right hand to point at Nikki.  
"What?" Kate started staring at Nikki.  
"Her name isn't on the manifest." he said quietly.  
Nikki's face went white, her thoughts racing, she subconciously tried to step backwards but fell over.  
Jack ran over to her, and pointed the gun at her.  
Nikki put her hands over her head. Kate's voice got shakier, more unsure. "Maybe Nikki is short for..."  
"Who are you?" Jack demanded.  
Nikki felt like her throat closed. "I...I'm...Nikki." She squeaked her chin quivered and hot tears started to come to her eyes.  
Sayid rushed by and Jack ordered him to pick her up. She shakily stood, being held by Sayid tightly.  
Nikki felt the blood rush out of her head,  
"Stop lying" he demanded and stepped closer with the gun, Nikki shied trying to cover her face. She glanced at Kate helplessly.  
"Is your name Nicole?" Jack asked.  
The question took a second to register in her mind, she was watching the gun. "Uh..no." She answered quickly, not taking her eye off the gun.  
"They why are you lying?" He yelled.  
Nikki glanced behind him, the whole camp was watching. "I...I'm...I'm not..." Nikki felt a cooling sensation and dizzyness take over, distorted pictures of Jack, Kate, and a few others flashed in front of her, then everything went black.


	5. Challenges and Trials

**PART 5**

Nikki stirred slightly, hearing voices.  
"Jack, there has to be some mistake..." Kate's voice was shaky.  
"Kate, why are you on her side?" Jack demanded.  
Kate paused for a minute. "Maybe, when she wakes up I can talk to her."  
"Absolutly not Kate."  
"Jack... please, I talked to her before."  
Silence came as Jack thought. Nikki felt someone leaning next to her, and check her pulse. She jumped slightly to the touch, and tried to open her eyes, but there was a bright light.  
"Hey, wake up." The person shook her slightly, she didn't recognize the voice. "Jack, I think she's waking up."  
She heard footsteps hurry across, she shot up, and forced her eyes open, almost falling off the other side of the bed.  
Jack and Kate grabbed her setting her up right.  
"What...Where..." Nikki started, even though she knew exactly what happened, the words just kinda slipped out of her mouth.  
"You fainted." Jack said almost robotically. Nikki knew that Jack was still unsure about her, she looked at Kate who was looking at Jack.  
"Do you feel dizzy, lightheaded?" Jack continued.  
Nikki shook her head. She almost liked the doctor Jack better than the other one... wait no she didn't. She put her hand on her head. "You've got to stop thinking!" She thought.  
Jack looked at Kate, then nodded and left, mentioning the other guy to follow.  
Kate moved and sat in front of her, then carefully chose her words. "Nikki, were you lying to Jack earlier? When he asked you her name?"  
"No." she said flatly. "I don't get you guys and names..." she grunted softly.  
"Then what is your name?" Kate asked. "Your full name."  
Nikki laughed "Wait, your confusing me, didn't I just tell you my name?"  
Kate stopped, "Ok, lets start over, what is your full name?"  
"Why do you need my full name?" She asked questioningly.  
Kate sighed. "Because we check everyone's name to the manifest after our mishap with Ethan."  
Nikki laughed, "Oh, well in that case you won't find 'Nikki' in there. Or 'Nicole' for that matter, is that why you think my name is Nicole?"  
Kate looked at her cautiously, and stood up. Nikki stopped laughing.  
"Um... sorry, uh I..." Nikki started with a loss for words.  
"Jack!" Kate called.  
"Kate wait if you..."  
Jack came in unexpectedly. "Kate something wrong?"  
"Kate, wait, just let me say one thing." Nikki got up off the bed.  
"Nikki or whatever your name is..." Kate started, a little scared.  
"My name is Nikki." she stated plainly.  
Jack stood back, wondering why Kate called him.  
"Then what did you just tell me?" Kate said trying to keep her voice calm.  
"I said Nikki wasn't short for Nicole."  
Jack let out a sigh, and ran his hand through his hair.  
"It's short for Nicoletta, which is what you would of learned in the first place if you'd of stopped jumping to conclusions and making assumptions." Nikki said raising her voice. "Probably the only Nicoletta in there." She groaned as she walked out.  
Jack and Kate glanced at each other.  
"I'll check it out." Jack offered, and Kate nodded.

Nikki hopped out of her makeshift tent that Sayid and Locke had build for her under a tree.

"Maybe I can sneak out and get my stuff…" she thought glancing towards the Jungle. She made a face realizing that she couldn't climb a tree, glancing down at her 'cast' that was made out of rough tree bark, with a cloth against her leg, tied together with some bamboo string. She had to admit Jack did a good job. Turning around, she looked at her tree and smiled. "I could at least see if I can." She said quietly. She glanced around to see if anybody was there, seeing there was nobody, she hopped over to the tree, and boosted her knee up to a first low branch. The next branch was a little high for her. "I can't… quite… reach." She grunted in effort

"Nikki!" A female voice called from behind her, startling her she almost fell out of the tree. She turned around to see Kate and some other guy. Kate moved forward to try to help her down.

"Don't touch me…" She said and Kate slowly backed away.

"What are you doing?" she exclaimed as Nikki lowered herself to the ground.

"What does it look like?" she said avoiding her eyes.

"I don't think a puny, little girl, with a broken leg, should be climbing trees." The other man said, and laughed a bit.

Nikki looked up, eyebrows low, and hopped a little towards him.

"Sawyer, you should really lay off." Kate said.

"First of all, I'm _not_ a little girl." She replied angrily. "Second of all, I'm probably stronger than you anyday." Nikki stopped her self for a minute, seriously doubting she was stronger than him. "Oh, what's said is said…" She thought to herself.

"Oh, yea? Try me!" Sawyer said walking closer to her.

"Uh, Sawyer…Nikki" Kate warned nervously.

"Are you challenging me?" Nikki asked, chuckling a little, realizing how short she was.

Sawyer nodded "Yea, how does arm-wrestling suit you?"

Nikki smiled. "Push-ups are more my style."

"You guys, this is really not important." Kate said, pushing Sawyer away.

Nikki looked at Kate then looked back at Sawyer, "Be here in 10 minutes." She flashed an angry glare, and hopped away, then crawled into her tent.

Kate pushed Sawyer off to the side "What are you thinking? She could hurt herself… more!"

Sawyer looked at her pathetically "Chill Freckles, She thinks she's stronger than me and I'll prove her wrong."

Kate and Sawyer were caught in an angry stare for a minute, then Kate ran away.

"Jack!" Kate yelled, running across the beach. "Jack!"

Jack looked up, afraid there was something wrong. Kate ran up panting,

"Kate, what's wrong?" He said fear in his voice.

"Nothing," Kate replied, gasping for breath. Jack let out a sigh of relief.

"Sawyer… and Nikki… decided to have… a pushup contest…" she gasped.

"What!" Jack exclaimed.

Kate nodded.

"Sawyer…" He muttered under his breath, and chuckled a little amused at the thought.

Jack walked off towards Sawyers tent, with Kate following

Jack burst into Sawyers tent.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sawyer exclaimed, who was reading a book.

"You think you can beat her?" Jack said pointing.

"Yea" he replied confidently. "You doin' somethin' about it?"

Jack chuckled, "I need you to back out. She could re-injure her leg."

Sawyer looked up from his book, "Are you joking?"

Jack shook his head.

"She thinks she's smarter than me and I'll prove her wrong." Sawyer replied.

"Right" he replied and walked out of the tent, mentioning Kate to follow him.


End file.
